


Fragments

by maddyandsnoopy



Series: Searching [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dark One!Belle, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-22
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-11-26 10:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/649772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddyandsnoopy/pseuds/maddyandsnoopy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of one-shots that are prequels, missing moments, and sequels to my Dark One!Belle fic "Done Searching"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Princes and Step-Moms

**Author's Note:**

> Ben, Sean, and Hassan discuss Disney princes during and after the curse.

Ben swatted Hassan’s hand away from his fries and waved at Sean as he walked in the diner door. It was the first time in weeks the Sean got a free night to see his friends between the baby and work, so he fell tiredly into the booth and smiled.

“Hey guys,” he said.

“Hey,” Ben said and offered Sean some fries, ignoring Hassan’s protests.

“Thanks,” Sean said. “So, what’s up?”

“Well, this idiot thinks Snow White’s prince is the stupidest out of the Disney princes,” Hassan said, rolling his eyes and thrusting his thumb towards Ben.

It was a testament to their friendship that Sean didn’t comment on the fact that they had been discussing Disney princes and instead snorted and chimed in. “It’s clearly Cinderella’s prince.”

“Thank you!” Hassan said.

“No!” Ben said. “Who finds a dead girl, thinks ‘let’s kiss her,’ and then marries her when she wakes up?”

“Who can only recognize their true love by a shoe?” Sean said, raising his eyebrows.

Ben muttered something under his breath and Hassan high-fived Sean. “We win!” he crowed before noticed Izzy French watching them from the counter, smirking, and immediately slumped in his seat and nodded to her, causing Ben and Sean to snigger. “Hey, Miss French.”

“Hello, boys,” she said, standing and walking over to them. “So have you all agreed that Cinderella’s is the stupidest prince?” She glanced at Sean, who was glowering at her, and smirked again.

“Yes, ma’am,” Hassan said, keeping his eyes fixed pointedly on her face as she leaned over their table and laughed.

“Oh, I do hope you remember this conversation in a few months,” she said. “I’ll see you at work, Ben.” She nodded to the other boys and walked away, Hassan staring after her with his jaw slack. 

“What the hell does that mean?” Sean said.

Ben shrugged. “Izzy can be really weird sometimes.”

\---

Bae pulled open the door to the diner and strode in, waving at Ruby before spotting Hassan and sliding into the booth across from him.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” Hassan said before waving at the door. Bae turned and saw Sean handing his baby to Ashley, who sat at the counter, before walking over and sitting next to Hassan. Bae stared at his friends, wondering who they were. Belle had seemed amused that he was meeting up with them today if her attempts not to snicker when he told her were any indication.

“So,” Sean said. “My real name is Thomas.”

“I’m Baelfire.”

“Aladdin,” Hassan muttered and his friends looked at him in surprise. 

“Like the genie and Jasmine and pet tiger?” Bae said, leaning forward.

“The genie wasn’t nearly as lovable as in the movie and Jasmine was the tiger, but basically, yeah.”

Bae laughed. “That’s awesome. Who’s Jasmine?”

“Basilah,” Hassan said.

“Ah,” Bae said, smiling at the thought of the sweet girl in the year below them in school before turning to Sean. “So who is Thomas?”

“No one important,” he muttered.

“Come on, tell us who you are,” Hassan whined, shoving Sean’s shoulder. “I run around with a monkey in my movie. Whoever you are can’t be that bad.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Sean said again.

Bae rolled his eyes. “Hey, Ashley,” he called across the diner and she turned to look at him. “What’s your real name?”

“Ella,” she said, bouncing Alexandra.

“Ella, Ella, Ella,” Bae muttered, turning back to his friends.

“Ella Enchanted?” Hassan said.

“No, that’s just a kid’s book,” Bae said.

“Thumbella?”

“It’s Thumbelina,” Bae said before freezing, remembered Belle’s laughing at their discussion of Disney princes. He met Hassan’s eyes and knew he had come to the same conclusion.

“Cinderella?” They both said at the same time, making Sean groan and Bae and Hassan slump against the table laughing. 

“You’re Cinderella’s prince,” Hassan managed to say between bouts of laughter. “You agreed that you’re stupid!”

“And you spent the last twenty-eight years fantasizing about the Dark One,” Sean snapped. Bae immediately stopped laughing and Hassan shrugged.

“I was cursed,” he said, and then did a double take when he saw Bae glaring at him. “What’s your problem, Benny?”

“You spent the last twenty-eight years telling me how hot my step-mom is,” Bae said, scowling.

“Wait, Mr. G is married to the Dark One?” Hassan said as Sean’s jaw dropped. 

“No. At least, not yet,” Bae said. “But saying step-mom is easier than saying ‘my dad’s true love who is basically my mom.’” He rounded on Sean. “By the way, I’m also mad at you for locking her up for weeks.”

“She was trying to take my kid!” Sean said indignantly.

“Cinderella made the deal to give up your kid!” Bae said before shaking his head. “I’m not really mad at you, Sean, though I am mentally scarred from what Hassan has said about her.”

Hassan had the grace to look ashamed and then grimaced when the diner door opened. Bae twisted in his seat and saw Belle and his father standing in the doorway. Belle waved at him before going to the counter and Rumplestiltskin walked over to their booth.

“Hello, lads,” he said, smiling down at the three boys. 

“Hi, Mr. Gold,” Sean said.

“My real name is Rumplestiltskin, Sean,” he said. “So who are you?”

“Aladdin,” Hassan muttered, not meeting Rumplestiltskin’s eyes. “Sorry about everything you’ve heard me say about your true love.”

Rumplestiltskin wrinkled his nose. “Let’s just never bring it up again, alright?”

“Deal,” Hassan said and Rumplestiltskin looked at Sean expectantly.

“I’m Prince Thomas,” he said, sticking out his chin.

“Ah,” Rumplestiltskin said, his jaw tightening. “Cinderella’s boy.”

“Rum,” Belle said, appearing next to him with a cup of tea in one hand, slipping her other arm into his. “It’s not the boy’s fault I wanted him to lock me up.” Rumplestiltskin relaxed and Sean looked confused. “How does it feel to be voted stupidest prince by your friends?” she said, smirking as she sipped her tea.

“They based their decision off the movie, which wasn’t accurate at all,” Sean muttered.

“Of course not,” she said. “I wasn’t the fairy godmother in the movie.” She glanced at Hassan. “How is your tigress, my sweet?”

“Fine,” Hassan said, avoiding her eyes.

“Mama,” Bae said, managing to draw her attention away from his friends and shock them with one word. “How did it go with the sheriff?”

She put her tea down and brushed some hair out of his eyes, smiling. “She agreed to help,” she said before looking back up at Rumplestiltskin. “Ready?”

He nodded. “We’ll be at the shop if you need us, Bae.” She picked up her tea again and turned to leave.

“Which shop?” Bae called after them as they walked to the door.

“Mine,” his father said and he turned back to his friends.

“Well, that was awkward,” Hassan said dryly.

Ashley slid into the seat next to Bae, clutching Alexandra and staring at Sean fearfully. “What did she want?”

“She’s Ben’s step-mom,” Sean said, sounding surprised that those words were coming out of his mouth.

Her expression made all three boys forget their awkwardness and laugh.


	2. A Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is set after Belle tells Rum and Bae her story but before the curse. Prompt from temporalteatime on tumblr: Dark One!Belle: Her spinner makes her gifts. (clothes, accessories, whatever you like).

Rumplestiltskin sat at the spinning wheel Belle had given him a few months after he and Bae began working in her castle and tried to teach Bae how to use it.

“Papa, I don’t want to learn,” Bae whined.

“You nag Belle to teach you magic but you won’t even let me teach you a respectable craft?” Rumplestiltskin said, irritated with his son.

“Are you saying magic isn’t respectable?” Belle said from behind him, sounding insulted. He spun around and beamed at her, rough green skin and all. 

“You’re back!” Bae yelled, jumping up and running over to her.

“I am,” she said, patting his arm before fixing Rumplestiltskin with a playful glare. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m saying that spinning is more respectable than sorcery,” he said as he leaned over to pull a small bundle of fabric out from underneath his stool before walking over to her.

“Hmm,” she scoffed, narrowing her eyes at him.

“How did the execution go?” Rumplestiltskin said, marveling over the fact that if someone told him a few years prior that not only would such a conversation become normal for him but that he would be having it with his true love, he would have told them they were crazy. 

“Wonderful,” Belle said, flashing a razor-sharp grin. “Snow White prevented her prince from killing Regina and now Regina can’t kill either of them, so she’ll just be more desperate to find a way to hurt them.”

“Which is where you come in,” Bae said.

“Aye,” she said, hoisting herself up to sit on the table before eyeing the fabric in Rumplestiltskin’s hand. 

He shifted uncomfortably and thrust it out to her. “I made it for you. Your hands are always freezing when you return from dealing so I thought that they would come in handy…” He fell silent as he watched her fall silent, staring at the dark blue gloves he had made with thread he spun and wove. “If you don’t like them, then—”

“No!” She looked sharply at him and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. “No, Rum, I love them. It’s just… It’s been a long time since anyone has given me a gift, let alone one they made for me.” She held out a hand for him and when he took it, she pulled him towards her until she could rest it on his chest. “Thank you.”

He smiled broadly and took her hand off of his chest, raising it to his lips to kiss, ignoring the gagging sounds Bae was making behind him. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”


End file.
